Speculative Fiction—an all-encompassing genre created to describe stories of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and other stories that have an element of “What if...” in them. A story in speculative fiction is one that adds an element of the unreal, or asks, what would become of our society if history took a different direction at some important event? Fiction with a little something extra thrown in.—William D. Richards

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Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Fight the Good Fight (Echoes of the Past, Book 1) by Daniel Gibbs

Release date: May 10, 2018

Subgenre: Military Science Fiction

About Fight the Good Fight:

A republic under attack. A reluctant soldier. An all-out fight for the galaxy’s soul.David
Cohen prays he’ll live to see the other side of his first deployment.
His people thought they had left war behind when they fled Earth
centuries ago. Time, though, has not dulled the hatred and intolerance
of their erstwhile oppressors. To defend his homeland’s freedom, David
abandons his dream of becoming a rabbi for the battlefield… and
discovers a side of himself he is not sure he can live with.

David's
focus is clear when the bullets are flying. In the long hours after, he
must reckon with the toll that blood and blame bring upon his mind. Can
he square the tenets of his faith against his responsibility to crew
and country? Nothing has prepared him to make decisions that could cause
ruin or an end to generations of conflict... except for trust in God,
himself, and those who serve under him.

If David Cohen survives it all, who will he be?

Echoes
of the Past: Fight the Good Fight is the first book in a military
sci-fi trilogy that takes an unflinching look at sacrifice, duty, and
the scars left on the minds of those who serve. The trials and tactics
of a starship commander are only part of the story... because every
soldier faces battles within.

Fight The Good Fight is the first
part of a three book trilogy, but does not end on a cliffhanger; it is a
fine stand alone introduction to the world of EOTP.

If you love Babylon 5, Safehold, and Destroyermen, you'll love Echoes of the Past!

Excerpt:

Space tore itself open in Sector 17A and a wormhole appeared, a
swirling mass of color and energy. The CSV Yitzhak Rabin emerged,
its artificial tunnel through the stars closing within seconds of
its passage. On the bridge of the destroyer, Sheila was the first
to speak. “Transit complete, sir! Emerging from wormhole within
five thousand kilometers of target.”

David took in the situation for a moment, looking above his chair
at the CO’s display. Noting that all systems were nominal, he
turned his attention to Ruth.

“TAO, report.”

Ruth’s eyes looked over her monitors. “Magnetic sensors snapping
on, sir.” Blips appeared on the screens in front of her. “I’m
detecting multiple League warships. Four Cobras, six Lancers; in
addition, there are a number of transports that appear to be
immobilized.” She did not bother reading out the Coalition ships
present led by Dyson’s vessel, the CSV Dutiful—another Ajax class
destroyer of an older vintage than the Rabin.

David nodded. Four Cobra class destroyers and six Lancer class
frigates from the League weren’t bad odds for the Coalition force
he had just joined. The Cobra was an older destroyer that the
League deployed en masse; two of them alone were no match for the
newest Ajax class destroyers, and Lancer class frigates were even
less capable against newer Coalition technology. “TAO, what’s the
closest enemy vessel to us?”

Ruth called out from her station as she depressed various buttons
on her console. “Aye, sir, firing solution set for Master One and
Master Two.”

David sat back slightly in his chair. Fighting to keep his
adrenaline in check, he checked his plot one more time. “TAO,
shoot, all weapons.”

The Rabin’s engines fired brightly and the destroyer accelerated
toward its targets. The two League Lancer-class frigates began to
turn to face their new opponent. A full salvo of magnetic cannon
projectiles erupted from the Rabin’s forward dorsal and ventral
mag-cannon turrets and raced toward her opponents, followed by a
burst from her neutron beam emitters. Hits sent ripples across the
shielding of the targets. A bright flare came from the second
Lancer, the barrage successfully battering down its shields.

“Conn, TAO! Contact Master One shields are now at thirty percent,”
Ruth reported. “Master Two shields have failed!”

David acknowledged her statement with a slight nod. “Navigation,
come about and present our forward arc to Master Two! TAO, firing
point procedures, forward missile cell and magnetic cannons on
Master Two!”

Ruth called back, “Firing solution set, sir!”

“TAO, shoot, all weapons!”

The Rabin turned sharply in space and brought her turreted
mag-cannons to bear on her foe. Missiles shot from her forward
missile cells, mounted both port and starboard along the

destroyer’s bow, and accelerated toward the League frigate. They
were quickly followed by another salvo from her forward
dorsal-mounted mag-cannons. Explosions ripped across the surface of
the Lancer struck by the Rabin’s fury, blowing away the small
vessel’s stern. Her lights dimmed and blinked out as she lost main
power, turning her into a drifting derelict in space.

Ruth’s reaction was measured and professional. “Conn, TAO! Master
Two disabled, sir.” Then she noticed something on her screen.
“Master One coming about, sir!”

The other Lancer, having seen her sister’s destruction, came from
above the Rabin and let loose with her own weapon’s complement
—primarily missiles and plasma cannons— on the Rabin. The ship
shook from the strain the barrage took on her shield generators and
their protective moorings. Ruth stopped herself from gripping her
board during the rocking. “Conn, TAO! Aft shields at sixty percent,
aft point defense at eight-one percent effectiveness! Master One
has taken up position directly behind us!”

David gave no outward reaction. The enemy had taken a risk with
that maneuver, but trying to hide from his ship’s bow weaponry by
moving along his stern would backfire for them. “TAO, firing point
procedures, ready four anti-matter mines!”

Ruth’s reaction was nearly instantaneous as she armed the mines and
prepared to launch. “Launch solution set, sir!”

David looked intently at his plot to be sure it was the right time
to deploy. “TAO, shoot anti-matter mines!”

From the rear of the Rabin, the disc-shaped anti-matter charges
dropped like depth charges of an old Earth wet navy. The helmsman
on the doomed Lancer had been following too closely and was too
slow in trying to avoid the mines. The first struck the Lancer’s
forward shield and the resulting explosion caused the shield to
fail for several seconds, leaving the other three mines to pass
through unharmed to smack against the Lancer’s thin armored hull.
Matter met anti-matter, and in a flash of radiation, they
annihilated each other, producing a massive explosion of energy
that ripped and melted through the Lancer. Each mine in succession
provided a larger explosion until the third’s self-immolation
claimed the Lancer’s primary missile magazine, detonating its own
volatile projectiles. A process feared by all space crews began as
the ship literally blew itself apart from the inside out. The
resulting debris was no larger than one-foot chunks, and no escape
pods were launched.

About Daniel Gibbs:

Daniel Gibbs is the creator of the Echoes of the Past universe. An
idea that was born nearly twenty years ago, has finally come alive. A
former computer engineer, Daniel loves all forms of science-fiction. His
first novel was recently released to Amazon, and he is hard at work on
the next two novels in the beginning EOTP trilogy. With mountains of
ideas and notes for additional novels, Daniel will be busy for years to
come bringing his universe to life!

With many years of
experience supporting the military as an IT engineer, Daniel hopes to
bring an authentic lens to military science fiction, especially around
the tribulations and trials of those who serve.

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